Odisha postpones reopening of schools for classes 1 to 5

School and mass education minister SR Dash, in a statement, said the decision was taken after officials visited various primary schools across the state and held discussions with the stakeholders.

On Friday, parents of over 20 students who got admission through RTE in L P Savani and S D Jain schools in Surat city were at the DEO office after they were told by the authorities to participate in the hearing. (Representative image)

Amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the Odisha government on Sunday said that it was withholding its decision to reopen schools for students of classes 1 to 5 from Monday.

School and mass education minister SR Dash, in a statement, said the decision was taken after officials visited various primary schools across the state and held discussions with the stakeholders.

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“Keeping in view the rise in a number of daily cases and based on the feedback provided by parents across the state, we have decided not to reopen schools for students of Classes 1 to 5 from January 3,” he stated.

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Dash, however, maintained that physical classes for students of classes 6 to 10 will continue for now. He also said that offline examination, as scheduled earlier, will be conducted adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

Odisha on Sunday registered 424 more coronavirus cases. Sixty-seven of the new patients are children below 18 years of age.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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